Heating system



July 14, 1942.

L. SMITH HEATING SYSTEM Filed. Feb. 7. 1941 .Inuerziar:

flitar eye.

Patented July 14, 1942 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,289,735 HEA'rm SYSTEM Lewis Smith, Pelham, N. Y. Application February 7, 1941, Serial No. 377,803

9 Claims.

This invention relates to heating systems for buildings and particularly, though not exclusively, to heating systems for apartment houses, hotels, hospitals and like buildings, which have a considerable number of rooms and floors. My prior Patent No. 2,174,333 of September 26, 1939, shows a heating system in which horizonta radiators in overlying rooms are connected in series by separate risers.

The present invention is an improvement upon this system and has for its main object the absorption of the expansion of the system without any special expansion-absorbing structure.

Before explaining in detail the present invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawing, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, and it is not intended to limit the invention claimed herein beyond the requirements of the prior art.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a, fragmentar diagrammatic view of an installed heating system which embodies the present invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates diagrammatically a modified form of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 4 and 4a illustrate diagrammatically other modified forms of the present invention.

Fig. 5 illustrates diagrammatically an embodiment of the present invention in a heating systern in which the radiators in the various overlying rooms are differently arranged.

Referring to Fig. 1, the reference numerals I21 and i2 designate the floor and the wall, respectively, of each of a number of overlying rooms I l in a building. Located in each of these rooms, preferably below a Window l5 thereof, is a radiator it which is provided with rib-s I8. The radiators in consecutive overlying rooms are connected in series by vertical risers 20 through intermediation of elbows 22. As shown in Fig. 1, consecutive risers are alternately located on opposite ends of the radiators and form. together with said radiators, the sole possible path for a heating medium. One of the elbows 22 of each radiator rests on a sleeve 24 which is mounted on the floor I 0 and through which the connected riser 25 extends with slight clearance for a purpose hereinafter described. The sleeves 24 on consecutive floors are alternately located at adjacent ends of the radiators so that a riser 2i) and a radiator I6 are interposed between consecutive sleeves 24. Hence, each sleeve 24 supports the weight of one riser and one radiator.

If a heating medium, such as steam, is passed through the system either from below or from above, the entire system will expand. As the considerable weight of a radiator-and a riser on each sleeve 24 effectively prevents an accumulative upward expansion of the system, the latter is forced to expand downwardly. However, the supports 24 effectively prevent accumulative downward expansion of the entire system so that each section of the system between consecutive supports 24 exp-ands separately. Thus, the riser 20a, for instance, expands downwardly and tilts the radiator l6a at the left end downwardly. Due to the slight clearance between each sleeve 24 and the riser 20 extending therethrough, the sleeve acts as a fulcrum for the adjacent radiator l6 and permits the above-mentioned tilting of the latter. Each riser 20, due to the customary threaded connection of its lower end with an elbow 22 of a radiator, will be bent during expansion to an extent which is not noticeable to the eye, but permits the explained tilting or rocking movement of said radiator. In this manner the expansion of each section of the system between consecutive fulcrums 24 is' taken up separately by the section itself without requiring any special expansion-absorbing structure, such as the well known expansion joints etc.

Mounted on the wall l2 of each room [4 as at 28 is any suitable casing or radiator shell 30 which encloses a radiator [6. The bottom 32 of each casing is open to admit air from the room into the casing to be heated by the radiator therein, and provided at or near the top of the casing is any conventional shutter 34 which may bemanipulated by a knob 36 from an entirely open position into an entirely closed position to thereby regulate the output of the air from the casing and, hence, the heat output of the radiator. The radiator ends may extend through holes in the end walls of the casing which are large enough to permit the explained tilting of the radiator during expansion and contraction of the system without interference from the stationary casing. Preferably, the opposite end walls 38 of each casing are notched at the bottom as at 40 to permit ready placement of the casing upon, or ready removal of the same from, an installed radiator.

Fig. 2 shows a different arrangement of the fulcrums for the radiators of a system which is otherwise arranged like the system shown in Fig. 1. In the present instance a fork or saddle 42 straddles the core 44 of a cast iron radiator 46 and is confined between two consecutive ribs 48 thereof (see also Fig. 3). The saddle 42 is either pivotally mounted at 50 on a base 52 which is secured to the floor 54 of a room as shown in the drawing, or said saddle may be integral with its base 52. In the latter case there is suflicient clearance between the saddle 42 and the adjacent ribs 48 of the radiator to permit the slight rocking of the latter about the fixed saddle in consequence of the expansion and contraction of the system. This time, the fulcrum 42 for each radiator 46 is located adjacent that radiator end which receives the lower end of the connected riser 56, with the result that the riser 56 is forced to expand upwardly. Upward expansion of the riser 56a, for instance, causes an upward tilting of the illustrated radiator 46 at the right end thereof about the fulcrum 42 on which said radiator remains seated due to the overhanging weight of the riser 56 and the radiator immediately above the illustrated radiator 46.

Fig. 4 shows substantially the same arrangement of the heating system as that shown in Fig. 2 except that the fulcrum for each radiator 60 is in form of a clamp 62 around one end of the radiator, which is pivotally mounted at 64 on a base 66 that is secured to the floor 68 of a room. To all intents and purposes the clamp 62 may be made integral with its base 66 as this type of radiator support will always afford sufficient give to permit the slight rocking motion of the radiator when the system expands or contracts. The expansion of the risers I0 is again upwardly so that each radiator is tilted or rocked about its fulcrum 62. The clamp or fulcrum may also be mounted on the radiator 60a substantially centrally thereof as at 62a (Fig. 4a); in which case a riser 19a and two halves, or the equivalent, of a radiator are interposed between consecutive fulcrums 62a.

For the sake of simplicity no casing or radiator shell has been shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 4a, but it is understood that radiator shells may be placed over these radiators in a manner similar to that shown in Fig. 1.

That the present principle of absorbing the expansion of a heating system is not limited to the particular arrangement of the radiators and risers shown in Fig. 1 is evidenced by the diagrammatic illustration of a heating system in Fig. 5 in which the reference numerals 14 designate the fulcrums for the various radiators 16 which are connected in series by the risers 78.

If the system is used with steam, the condensate will flow downwardly through the system. To prevent the trapping of condensate in the radiators of the system shown in Fig. 1, for instance, at any time, the installed radiators l6 are preferably so pitched with respect to the risers 20 that they present a continuously downwardly inclined path for the flowing condensate even after the radiators have been tilted on expansion of the system in the previously mentioned manner. In practice the axis of each radiator and the axis of a riser connected there with are at slightly more than 90 to each other, this being conveniently accomplished by tapping the holes at the proper angle. The radiators shown in Figs. 2 and 4 are pitched in a like manner so as to assure a continuously declining path for the condensate at all times.

I claim:

1. In a heating system for a building having overlying rooms, the combination of a substantially horizontal radiator in each room; an upwardly and a downwardly extending riser at the opposite ends, respectively, of each radiator for connecting the latter with the nearest radiators; and a fulcrum in each room supporting the radiator therein, said fulcrums furnishing the sole support for the radiators and risers but permitting movement of the radiators due to expansion and contraction of the system.

2. The combination in a heating system as set forth in claim 1, in which each radiator is provided with vertical heat-radiating ribs, and each fulcrum comprise a pedestal mounted on the floor of a room and a member pivoted on said pedestal and straddling a radiator resting thereon between two consecutive ribs thereof.

3. The combination in a heating system as set forth in claim 1, in which each fulcrum comprises a pedestal mounted on the floor of a room and a member clamped to the radiator in said room and pivoted on said pedestal.

4. The combination in a heating system as set forth in claim 1, in which each radiator is provided with vertical heat-radiating ribs, and each fulcrum comprises a pedestal mounted on the floor of a room and having at its top a saddle in which the radiator rests between two consecutive ribs thereof with slight clearance from said ribs.

5. In a heating system for a building having overlying rooms, the combination of a substantially horizontal radiator in each room; an upwardly and a downwardly extending riser at the opposite ends, respectively, of each radiator for connecting the latter with the nearest radiators; and a fulcrum for each radiator located at one end thereof so that a radiator and a riser is interposed between consecutive fulcrums, said fulcrums furnishing the sole support for the radiators and risers but permitting movement of the radiators due to expansion and contraction of the system.

6. The combination in a heating system as set forth in claim 5, in which said one end of each radiator is an elbow to which the riser from the nearest radiator below is secured, and each fulcrum is an upright sleeve through which a riser extends with clearance and against the top of which said elbow of a radiator rests and which is itself mounted on the floor of the room in which the last mentioned radiator is located.

'7. In a heating system for a building having overlying rooms, the combination of a substantially horizontal radiator in each room; an upwardly and a downwardly extending riser at the opposite ends, respectively, of each radiator for connecting the latter with the nearest radiators; a fulcrum in each room supporting the radiator therein, said fulcrums furnishing the sole support for the radiators and risers but permitting movement of the radiators due to expansion and contraction of the system, and a casing independently mounted in each room and enclosing the radiator therein and having openings through which the ends of said radiator extend, said casing having means for controlling the flow of air therethrough and said openings being sufficiently large to permit movement of the enclosed radiator about its fulcrum due to expansion and con traction of the system.

8. The combination in a heating system as set forth in claim '7, in which each casing is open at the bottom and has opposite end walls, and said openings are notches in said side walls at the bottom thereof through which the ends of the enclosed radiator extend.

9. In a steam heating system for a building having overlying rooms, the combination of a near-horizontal radiator in each room; an upwardly and a downwardly extending riser at the opposite ends, respectively, of each radiator for 10 connecting the latter with the nearest radiators and a fulcrum in each room supporting the radiator therein, said fulcrums furnishing the sole support for the radiators and risers but permitting movement of the radiators due to expansion and contraction of the system, and each radiator being inclined downwardly toward the downwardwardly extending riser connected therewith to such an extent as to permit the unimpeded gravity flow of any condensate downwardly through the system regardless of whether the system is expanded or contracted.

LEWIS SMITH. 

